Moms Inspire and Mentor Next Generation of Caregivers Inside Trinity Health Michigan

For many Trinity Health Michigan colleagues, caring for patients isn’t just a career choice, it’s a family business that spans generations.

This is true for Lindsey Barrett, a second-generation colleague and patient care tech working inside Trinity Health Ann Arbor’s 3-East Medical-Surgical Unit. Lindsey is new to health care, having worked inside Trinity Health Ann Arbor for less than a year while she completes her registered nursing degree at Schoolcraft College. When not studying or attending classes, Lindsey’s days are filled at the hospital caring for a wide variety of cases, involving both children and adults.

Just a short walk from her unit, Lindsey’s mother Patrice Barrett cares for young mothers and their newborns. Patrice has been a registered nurse for more than 27 years, much of it spent working inside the Mother-Baby Unit on 3-North.





Photo Caption: Patrice Barrett (left) and her daughter Lindsey Barrett (right) pose for a photo together at home.

“I would be lying if I said my mother hasn’t been a major influence on me,” said Lindsey. “She’s the driving force behind why I chose to become a nurse. Science and medicine have always interested me, but it’s the pride I’d see in her eyes growing up and the stories she shared that inspired me.”

Lindsey is expecting to complete her nursing degree in the next six months and already she has a good idea of where she wants to take her career.

“I want to work in the Cardiac ICU or the Cath Lab when I complete my degree,” she said. “I once watched a Cath Lab procedure and ever since then, I knew caring for heart patients was where I wanted to be. Cardiac nurses make such an impact in their patients’ lives.”

Twenty-seven years ago, Lindsey’s mother began her own career working with cardiac patients inside the hospital ICU.

It’s no surprise these two are following similar career paths. According to Lindsey, the strengths that make Patrice a great mother --- resiliency, hard work, compassion -- are the same strengths she takes to work every day. “I love my mother so much. She is the most caring person I know. She definitely chose the right career and I’m so grateful to her for helping me find my way too.”




“We’re here to take care of people,” said Patrice. “I hope my kids see how much I care and how much I enjoy doing this job.”

Though unique, Lindsey and Patrice are not the only mother/daughter colleagues working nearby one another inside Trinity Health Michigan.

In fact, you don’t have to look very far to find others with similar stories.

Inside both of their units are Dawn Adkins (mother) and Krista Spragg (daughter).





Photo Caption: Krista Spragg (left) and her mother Dawn Adkins (right) pose for a photo years ago while at working inside Trinity Health Ann Arbor. At the time, Krista was a student and patient care technician beginning her health care career.

Krista has been a registered nurse on the 3-East Medical-Surgical Unit for two years, and before that she was a patient care tech for four years. Her mother Dawn is a relief charge nurse and staff nurse on 3-North, the same Mother/Baby Unit where Patrice works.

Working inside the same hospital as her mother has brought the two even closer, says Krista. “She’s my mom, but also my best friend. Whether it’s work or in life, she talks to me without judgment and is always there to listen and offer advice.”

Like Lindsey, Krista says watching her mother work growing up had a major influence on her and her own career choices.

“My mom is a person that puts everybody before herself,” says Krista. “She isn’t only a great nurse, she is the mom that never missed one game or school event when I was a child.”

“Now that she’s married and living her own life, we don’t see each other as much outside of work,” said Dawn. “Having her at work has been very special from day one. It’s nice to be able to have lunch together or to just see each other when we have a break in the hospital. We have a special connection and our relationship has grown. I’m just really proud of her and the woman she has become.”